


A Matter of Trust, Ch1-Pt1

by Dressari



Series: Distant Worlds [1]
Category: Creators Keepers of Mana, Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures, Furry (Fandom)
Genre: CKoM - Freeform, DMFA - Freeform, Elements, Furrae, Mana - Freeform, Multi, Other, cubi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 06:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11572548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressari/pseuds/Dressari





	A Matter of Trust, Ch1-Pt1

 [Front Cover Image](https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=1398422&page=2#pictop)

[An impressed Destania conversing with a casual Biggs.](https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=1398422&page=3#pictop)

 

\- Introduction -

Perception, is such a strange little thing, is it not? The way we perceive the world around us, what experiences it teaches us and how we grow from it. When we look at things, people and places, the ways we perceive them can differ greatly from person to person. And more often than not, it can bring others either closer together... or set them on the path to destroy each other. Nobody realises how fragile perceptions can be bent, twisted or broken, usually by outside influence. You see it happen many times and, on such grand influences, can lead to the rise and fall of kingdoms or empires.

Love and hate, admiration and contempt, friends and enemies. I have watched these things occur in such detail as those effected change their perceptions. From the rise of the undead into recognised race of creatures to their eventual role in the world. I observed and even participated in the shadow war of the Creators and the Remnants that lead to their alliance against a common foe. The Cubi and Dragon war which bore centuries of hate that slowly healed into a shallow cut of distrust.

Even with my status and power, through my perceptions I learned much from these events, I made my own friends, earned my own enemies... found love, though it may have been out of reach. And what was out of reach we often learn to cope with with acceptance or alternatives. Or in some cases we find ways to bend the rules in our favour.

Trust... is also a very fragile thing, easily warped... just as easily smashed with the right tools. Both the truth and a well placed lie can have the same effect, it just all depends on the one perceiving it.

I will imagine today, and the weeks after, will forever change how many will view me, not that the Fey were ever regarded as trustworthy to begin with. At least not by many. I set in motion a plan, one that took lifetimes to complete and I have done much that even I would not be proud of in some of my personas. Though, truth be told, I only find myself acting out one role these days, and it is the one I am content with the most. Two worlds are about to collide from very different times, and very different places.

There will be trying times, love will flourish, but hate will grow, trust will be earned and also broken. I will not take solace in the knowledge many will be hurt along the way, but I will take pride that should my years of hard work pay off, that one world will be free of tyranny and the other restored to its former glory. Few know of my plans, but the few that do I have faith in that they will trust him as I had done so.

Forgive me kid, I know this will be hard on you and it pains me to take advantage of things I should not, but only you I would trust with this task. I only hope you, and the remnants of your family and friends, will one day understand.

 

\- 1 -

The sun shined high in the sky on this hot summer's day. Cool winds and patchy clouds were the only thing to alleviate the heat of the day. But whatever the weather, it would never stop the hustle and bustle of trade - legal goods, illegal goods and information - in the Twink Territories. What once was an area of petty rivalries and disorganised rabble was turned into a loose association of working groups brought together under the leadership of Biggs Sans.

In the centre of it all was a large estate, owned by Biggs himself. And it was perhaps the largest of homes in the Twinks, a show of force, a show of power... a show of style if anything was to be said about the lavish outside décor.

"Oh, C'mon. I know I put it here somewhere in here." A snappy voice was heard from the inside of a refrigerator, the jingling of bottles colliding together gently as it was searched for refreshments, "Ah ha! Found you!" yelled the male voice in excitement. A pinkish-red haired and brown furred ferret, short in stature -half the size of the refrigerator - emerged with a smile. He closed the door to the fridge with a quick kick from the side of his foot as he tossed a green bottle up in a small juggle. Snatching a paper file from off the top of a kitchen unit nearby, he left the kitchen with a merry whistle.

Biggs was not known for his simplicity but he was far from outrageous, maybe just a little gold accent here and there. All in all the interior of his home would make even royalty jealous... or just show that he had a huge ego complex. Either way he didn't care.

Popping the cap off the bottle and throwing down the paper file onto a nearby coffee table he jumped onto his favourite couch and slumped down with a relaxing grunt. Taking one long swig, he aimed to have a few moments to himself before any more trouble started.

"Ahem!"

A female voice cleared its throat nearby, catching Biggs's attention with a startle.

Before him was a bright blue furred individual, easily twice his own height, standing next to the couch, arms crossed, with a displeased look with her light green eyes. Long, straight, dark blue hair flowed down her back. A number of bright blue markings adorned the underside of her cheeks, magical markings? Who knew, but they were difficult to miss.

Appearing surprised at first Biggs then cracked a wide smile, "Ah, Destania, someone who I can always rely on to remind me of the important things at hand," he greeted cheerfully before pointing at her with a thumb, “What's with the lack of gazelle disguise and wings? That's not like you.”

Destania leaned to one side with a groan, she ignored the question as meaningless and instead batted at the papers he had thrown on the coffee table, "I do hope you haven't forgotten about the nine-thirty today. Which is in but thirty minutes?" questioned the blue furred one, emphasising on the time frame. Biggs nodded his head slowly, choosing to examine the label on his beverage. Destania let out a heavy sigh, "Do you need me to remind you HOW important it is that we maintain relationships with Zinvth?"

"Relax, this is just my way of preparing. I can't be this sober, I'll be talking for a few hours in front of a bunch of bloodthirsty demons no less," he replied. Yet his companion glared at him with narrowing eyes, a look that could burn through walls and heads alike. Throwing a hand in the air in his defence he assured her, “Okay- okay- I know....” quickly he placed his bottle down on the table and reached for his back pocket, pulling out a few scraps of paper. "But here... before I go, one of my explorer teams dug up something that might interest us, or more you."

"Oh, really now?" responded Destania with a mix of slight curiosity and irritation, she relaxed her stance offering him the benefit of the doubt. Despite his appearance, Biggs did have a tendency to present useful and sometimes 'nice' things for her to look at.

"So, check this out, a clan from the OLD, OLD demon clans stumbled across some sort of cave, a lot of the records about the place were lost... until my men found them again in that new stuff we got from that auction," he explained, the emphasis on the OLD in his sentence made it sound that it was perhaps older than they could research in books alone.

Destania rolled her eyes losing interest rather quickly, "Why would a cave that was once inhabited by any of the Demon clans be interesting to me?" she questioned as Biggs waved the paper in the air towards her a few times. Demons had never been much of a worry for them, granted they were powerful but they were a far-cry from a threat far worse in Furrae at present.

"I didn't say inhabited,” corrected Biggs before taking Destania's hand and slapping the documents into it, “I said they STUMBLED across."

Reluctantly Destania shuffled through the papers, curious at first but then slowly rose an eyebrow at the images of hands and symbols. The last one appeared to be a partially drawn map in some mountains, incredibly dangerous mountains at that. Reactively the Cubi wanted to question the wisdom of why some of their explorer teams were visiting such an area in the first place. Nothing of value had ever been recorded there, nothing that came back alive anyway. Returning to the hands and symbols she said, "This looks like a set of magical gestures.”

Biggs shrugged, "I thought the same thing. Perhaps locking wards to keep something in...," he said seriously before he smirked, "Heh, or something my sister did when she was younger." then knocked back the rest of his drink quickly before placing the bottle on the table with a hard tap. Flicking his hands out to either side like guns he went on to add "The more interesting point to this is WHAT they found there, not that they were there to begin with."

"Which was?"

"I dunno,” admitted Biggs and his response earned an irritated growl as she threw the papers back on the desk in a huff. Catching the papers before they scattered everywhere he quickly said, “Wait a second Dee! Lets think about this for a second.” Destania had always been a difficult one to keep interested into anything other than their real objective. He didn't want her to lose interested just yet however, “For something to be locked up by demons it must be worth something. The demons didn't like something in there; so I'm thinking it'll be of use to us, right?" he suggested with a tempting smile.

Destania pressed hands against her hips feeling far from convinced by his words and recognised that glib expression he always attempted to use to bargain with. Frankly she had been expecting something considerably better than that for a reason to fund an expedition into a set of dangerous mountains. Vague information, related to demons in dangerous territory. With a groan and shake of her head she said, "Biggs, it is very unlikely that anything locked up by Demons is going to be beneficial to us or our plans,” strangely however she did find herself picking the scrawled map back into her possession. “In fact this sounds more like something that should be left alone," she stated, listening to the cautionary voice that was getting louder in the back of her mind.

Biggs picked up the remainder and beamed a smile, "C'mon, Dee! It can't hurt to look around at least. Never know, we might find an alternative to our 'plan'!" he said excitedly. Destania remained silent, watching him waft the pile of papers in the air again, "What d'ya think, send a few explorers to poke around?"

“This... is unlike you to deviate from the plan,” said Destania, folding her arms, “And I cannot say that I like it, what is wrong with what we have to begin with?” she asked motioning around the room briefly.

“Doesn't hurt to have a plan B.”

“A plan B?”

“Right, you gotta account for everything after all.”

“Everything...”

“So, what do you think? Send a team-”

Destania sharply snapped her fingers before directing them to the nearby doorway, "You, sir," she began in her usual stern address, "Have an appointment to go to since yesterday... As for this,” she said taking the papers from Biggs into hand, “I shall take a look around, your subordinates are often clumsy and foolish.”

Biggs raised an eyebrow in surprise, it was uncommon for him to hear Destania wanting to do such trivial work normally best left for their workers. "Ya sure, Dee? Its in pretty dangerous territory.” he asked then threw up his hands defensively when a glare was shot in his direction, “Hey- hey, just checking.”

“I can move faster on my own, and I am more than capable of defending myself” then with another direction from her hand Destania reiterated his need to leave, "Appointment, now." she stated.

With a flinch the ferret quickly snapped his way towards the exit, "I'm going, I'm going" He said sharply, slipping out of the lounge.

Destania crossed her arms and let out a whined sigh, “Biggs! The paperwork!" she yelled out after him, noticing he had forgotten them. Biggs ran back in and snatched the file from the table he left it on, he threw a quick grin at her before running out again. Destania shook head a little, concerned for how well the meeting may go. She had to trust him, at least a little bit anyway. ' _Dragons and Demons...'_ She thought to herself bringing the map back up to her view, ' _This doesn't sound promising... but it can't hurt to poke around.'_

 

⁂

 

Hazardous didn't even come close to describing this region, it would often give even the most reckless of Demons or stupidest of Adventurers pause to come out this way. Mostly uncharted, it was one of the last few vestiges of Furrae that had been difficult to explore over the centuries due to treacherous weather and terrain, as well as the rumoured dangerous creatures that still inhabit the area- none of which Destania had the misfortune of meeting thus far. Flying into the area was a bad idea too, being seen in the sky did little to hide ones approach from the wandering Gryphons and Dragons. Trying to find this so called 'buried treasure' using a poorly drawn map was difficult enough.

No longer looking as herself, Destania's appearance had altered drastically, a racial trait she knew how to use all to well. The Cubi, or a Succubus... Incubus if you were male even, had the ability to alter ones appearance by mere thought was one of their many abilities; hair, fur, weight, height, shape, even down to clothing and eye colour, there wasn't a piece about themselves Cubi could not alter.

Taking on one of her usual guises, Destania now resembled a brown and white furred Gazelle with deep grey antlers that formed a very slight curl. Her clothing remained the same as did the colour of her eyes since only her base physical appearance was required to be changed at this time. With a light kick of a few stones Destania let out a long drawn out sigh of irritation.

_I must be losing my mind..._ she thought to herself, peering over a small ledge and gauging if the jump was safe enough to land. Navigating the terrain had been fairly easy due to her agility, she may have been be over seven-thousand years of age, but it did little to slow her down. With a small hop she landed on the next ledge below that contained a more stable path and followed it between some large rock formations like a small canyon. _What could possibly be in mountains as treacherous as this?_

Seven-thousand... far beyond the normal life span of any cubi, it was not a detail she was proud of in the slightest, in fact she loathed the very thought every time.

The smell of blood suddenly became thick in the air as she pressed on, becoming cautious of her surroundings. It was fresh, too fresh to be any passing corpse that perished out in this wilderness. Her path led towards a more open area surrounded by a number of low height cliff faces. A low growl suddenly broke the quiet howling of the wind through the pass, it did not sound like any creature she had heard of before and vibrated with an deep rumble.

Slipping herself between a number of tall rocks, Destania approached the open area slowly and peered through some cracks to determine what had caused the noise to begin with. Common sense told her to stay away, far away, but curiosity drove her to discover if it was worth something reporting back to Biggs when she returned.

Report was indeed correct, but nothing she had ever expected to see, let alone to have read in a book a long time ago at the Academy.

In the open space stood a number of large, four-legged canine looking... creatures. Intimidating size alone, their appearance was perhaps something from the stuff of bad dreams. Their frame appeared slender and bore long thin limbs both front and back while incredibly sharp looking talon sprang forth from its toes. Only the long dark tan fur gave it any substance. Despite the weak look it presented, the stories reported they were in fact frighteningly strong, able to pounce upon prey from startling distances.

The worst of all the rumours were the ones that mentioned they were capable of feeding off and absorbing any and all magic directed at it. Some even say it was their primary source of food. Although their fresh kill of some of the local fauna might have said otherwise.

Destania was not inclined to stick around and find out how much of these stories were true, the shock of even seeing one was bad enough. This was another good example of why these mountains were so dangerous. Silently the Cubi slipped between the rocks and moved as quietly as possible until the noise from the creatures could no longer be heard in the distance.

Referring back to the map, the Cubi proceeded to follow its directions once more. Despite the crude scribblings it did very well to reference nearby landmarks, and when there wasn't a visible landmark, a code of movements and directional indicators filled the gap. This persisted for a short while until...

They came to a complete stop... in the middle of pretty much nowhere.

_How old did he say this was again...?_ said a confused Destania to herself as she surveyed the surroundings. There was nothing by visible means that would suggest something out of the ordinary. But in terms of magic, her finely tuned senses begun picking up a faint trail of magic. Make that a couple of faint trails from different directions. _Great... time for a game of hot and frigging cold..._ she sighed inwardly.

A little time was wasted as Destania narrowed in on some of the trails, many of them were in fact decoys and distractions, and every one she uncovered only pushed her patience further. It almost brought it to the point of giving up and returning home, until... a stone she accidentally kicked passed through a tall upright rock causing it to distort and fizzle very briefly before returning to a stabilized image.

Destania blinked, half confused and half impressed she actually found something other than a decoy. And was certain she spotted a cavern hidden behind the rock when the image distorted. Yet why would such a minor magical illusion be out in the middle of nowhere? Part of her survival instincts told Destania it was probably best to turn around now, but having come so far already she would have hated for the trip to be wasted by idle worries. With a hand out flat in front of, she walked into the rock performing a leap of faith and passed through with the same distortion.

Once though the illusionary rock remained behind her, but the beaming light from the sun cut into the entrance as if it was not there. The light faded quickly however as the path leading into the cavern went deeper into the rockface. With a flick of a wrist, a small ball of white light exploded above Destania's fingertips and lit a sizeable area around her location. Making a small adjustment she directed the light into the cavern, the walls appeared hand tunnelled yet only pushed into the mountain side for a short distance before the rocks were replaced with solid metal framework. A large metallic door sat at the end of the short corridor.

Once again her survival instincts twitched.

Approaching the door the Cubi ran her hand along the framework and gave a short knock, it was made of solid steel that much she was certain of. A single thin slit broke the door in half vertically down the middle. This was nothing like Destania had seen in Furrae, unless you counted those silly sci-fi shows her boss indulged in from time to time. But that's all they were, right? Fiction? Then why did this look so real and not an illusion like the rock.

More noteably however and even more strange were the several translucent glyphs scrawled over the main door, hovering just from surface. They were definitely magical in nature, and demonic in origin. A small device sat off to the left side of the door, hanging out of the wall and presumably broken.

"Wards..." Destania said in a hushed tone, producing the rest of the notes that came with the map. Humming to herself in thought, she passed a hand through one of the glyphs and it reacted to her presence with a distorted ripple, "The demons really did try to lock something up... the glyphs are certainly old. But the door looks as if it were new... how odd..."

Reading from the notes, she began to trace her fingertips along one of the glyphs and after a few motions the glyph disintegrated into thin air, breaking apart like glass. Guess she had to give credit to Biggs's explorers and archivists, they weren't total screw ups after all.

Continuing to remove the glyphs one by one, Destania traced over each of them in a set order. Once the last glyph had been removed the centre of the doors parted open with a clang causing the Cubi to dart her hand back suspiciously. It seemed any locking mechanisms that were present before no longer functioned. Imagining time had rusted the doors stiff, a quick thought was all it took for two large feathery blue wings to grow from her back, these new appendages were another trademark of her race. Focusing on the same thought, Destania then reformed her wings into a series of six long tendrils and slipped them between the doors then with short burst of strength she slammed the two pieces to the sides with a clang. A gust of stale air blew from down the single corridor now before her. Stepping inside cautiously, the corridor showed some signs of corrosion, patchy brown rusted areas, but the structure was still sound and steady.

Her footsteps echoed quietly through the hall as she paced her way deeper into the cavern, the path was linear and the walls became less apparent with corrosion instead bearing signs of maintenance. Another doorway eventually stood before her, but this one was already open and surrounded by more broken electrical devices on the walls. Marks and dents littered the frame, giving the impression there was a forced entry.

The doorway led into a larger open chamber. While the centre of the room was clear, the edges were filled with computer terminals, desks littered with mouldy papers, books and other writing implements. In one corner, a huge circular chamber contained a misty white solid block that filled it completely. In the opposing corner were a set of containers and lockers. Lastly another metallic door presented itself on the left wall, this one also showed signs of attempt entry, but the door remained firmly locked. No panels or locks showed any methods to open it, not even a handle to grip.

She chose to Ignore the closed door for now since there were much more interesting items currently in this chamber alone to examine. Particularly, the very large circular chamber. Upon first observation it was made up of a silvery coloured series of frames with a number of large panes of clear glass that allowed her to see the white block within. Yet upon closer inspection, the framework was not made up of traditional materials she was familiar with as she tapped the surface of one with a knuckle.

Rather than a metallic clank like metal, it caused a hard stony knock and felt smooth to the touch... like glass? Glass... despite not having a see though appearance, that was her best description of the material. But what about the smoggy grey appearance? No this wasn't glass, it had to be something else despite sharing the same feeling of touch as the clear panes did. Looking around briefly it then occurred to Destania that nearly everything else in the room was also made of the same material, just in different shapes. They held different colours or shades, but the physical similarities remained.

A cold air permeated the chambers immediate surroundings, suggesting the white block contained within it was in fact ice. Why was a block of ice being preserved down here of all places? Come to think of it, despite the cold radiating from it, there was also a strange warmth... and... an emotion?

Emotions? From inside the ice? Emotions meant something down here was alive. The block wasn't completely opaque mind you, squinting her vision she took a look hard stare into the ice. There was... a silhouette of something there, but she couldn't make it out to be what, a shadow was her best description. Ceasing her stare with a blink, Destania took a step back and folded her arms and pondered, _Just what the heck is this supposed to be?_ She asked herself.

The corner of her vision caught sight of some blinking lights and pulsing energy lines connected to a free standing panel next to the chamber. Wondering if they were still functioning the Cubi approached them and reached out with a hand. As her fingers neared, the panel lit up brighter, startling her as a series of bright beige looking beams of light penetrated the air just above the panel and created an image.

Now Destania had to admit to herself she was not the best when it came to computers or the technology that was rapidly changing how life was in Furrae. But if there was one thing she could put a name to the newly formed magical looking panel, it was a computer monitor... just, made up of energy. What would those shows call it... a hologram?

The old fashioned cubi scoffed at the idea, surely holograms were little more than an ubsurd idea in books and films. Still, she couldn't deny what was before her was definitely something out of those silly notions. The display already had information on show, a series of text and lines along with varying percentages or even differentiated numbers were listed. And it was all in a language very common to Furrae too.

Destania read the lines from top to bottom in a casual order.

Heartbeat...

Blood pressure...

Brain activity...

Bodily condition...

A name...?

Destania read the name aloud, "Adrian. Kino." Then looked at the chamber again with a shocked realisation of what could be contained inside, "Is this containing someone alive!? ...Just what the heck did Biggs's team dig up in those records?"

She rapidly waved at the chamber not even thinking if she would receive a response in the first place. Was it aware of her? Or was it dormant? Given the ice, the slow heartbeat indicator and passive brain activity it would suggest a state of dormancy, or even stasis. This was well outside of the norm of discovery even for Biggs's bumbling buffoons, was this really what the demons feared and locked up once they discovered it. The question was, why?

Wondering if the computer held any answers, Destania pressed her fingertips into the panel a few times, though she did not discover any depressible keys to suggest it could be manipulated. Not even the lights or the lines of energy appeared to do anything. With a frustrated grunt she waved off her hand at it as she turned away. Her hand passed through the 'monitor' sending it in to a buzzing distortion as she moved onto the other areas of interest in the room.

Passing by a few of the nearby tables she found they were laden with scrolls, books and papers. As she suspected many of them were subject to severe degradation. Carefully pushing a few pieces apart she recognised some of the written works were in an old Demon language, at least that was proof the demons were indeed here at one point. The rest of the material was of no help, some was even written in languages she had never seen before. A couple gave the idea they were novels, the name of one read 'Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell'.

What a strange title and an even stranger name.

With little else she could glean from the papers, she turned her attention to the last area of interest in the room. The lockers stood as tall as she did with four of them situated side by side, a short rattle of one determined they were fixated to the wall or the ground to prevent moving... or stealing for that matter. Destania attempted to open one and to no surprise they were all locked tight.

_'Yes should have expected this, a simple unlock spell should do the trick.'_ Destania said to herself and pointed her finger at the lock performing a quick gesture followed a quiet murmur of words. The sounds of the lock rattled of its own will, she tried the door again... but it was still locked. _'Huh... odd, I do not sense any magic protecting these. I'll try the more direct approach in that case.'_

The left wing of Destania's back flapped out and then formed into a suitable piercing lance; she stood with her arms folded and darted her new tool at the lock. Her attack ended with the lance scrunching and bending against the surface like it was paper.

"Yow!" She yelped and let out a hiss, wincing from the vibration that rattled along her appendage and straight back into her body. "Grrr... This isn't anything ordinary! I barely scratched it!" grunted an annoyed Destania and returned her wing to it's original shape, stepping away both agitated from being defeated by a mere container.

Furling the wing back into her body, Destania placed her hands on her hips and let out a growl. "Ugh! I am just wasting time here now,” she grumbled to herself, shaking off her shoulder where much of the pain persisted from her attempt. She started to think her search was at a point that just poking around would do little to nothing.

Biggs's recovery teams would be required to help salvage anything of worth, and perhaps take a closer look at that computer. Which strangely was still showing signs of distortion and flickering, perhaps her magical nature had an adverse effect on it. Something important was contained in that chamber, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling it brought about. But she knew Biggs all too well that once told about it, he would surely do everything he could to recover it.

That little ferret never knew when to leave things alone.

Destania took her leave from the chamber, back through the corridors, then finally passing through the illusionary rock and stepping out into daylight from the facility. The distortion settled quickly again, sealing the passage behind it as if it was never there again. She gave one last look to where the rock was, unable to shake the nagging feeling of that ice block emitting emotions.

Unbeknown to her however, the computer terminal she caused to malfunction had calmed down to a gentle flicker. Its screen displayed in bold red ”DE-THAW COMMENCING” and the chamber hissed quietly, steam escaped from the top and the base. The block of ice slowly turned into a warm red...

 

 


End file.
